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Byline: Betty Ruwitch

Happy holidays, everyone!

The gorgeous fall has gone by so quickly, it is hard to believe our children will be on winter break shortly. I found myself asking the question, "What am I going to do with them for two weeks? How many movies can we see?"

This time of year is a good one to visit the city of Chicago. Lights adorn the streets, and the windows on State Street and Michigan Avenue are a feast for the eyes.

There is also an excellent exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago. Recently, I took a friend to see the "Van Gogh and Gauguin - The Studio of the South" exhibit. We planned to make a day of it, and it's a good thing we did.

The exhibit is extensive. There are more than 250 works by the two artists. The paintings come from the Art Institute collection, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin met in Paris in 1887. They met through Van Gogh's brother, Theo, who was an art dealer. The two artists exchanged canvases - one of Gauguin's Caribbean scenes for two of Van Gogh's sunflowers - and started a long correspondence. …

PaulGauguin and the Lure of the Exotic: No Matter Where He Traveled, the Artist Absorbed the Sights and Subjects Encountered There into His Own Unique Vision. (Museum Today)Stein, Susan Alyson.
USA TODAY, Vol. 131, No. 2686, July 2002